Die Finanzen des Großherzogs (1924)

Die Finanzen des Großherzogs is a German film comedy-drama first released in 1924, directed by F.W. Murnau.  The film is based on a novel by Frank Heller and stars Alfred Abel, Mady Christians, Adolphe Engers, Julius Falkenstein and Ilka Grüning.  It has also been released under the title: Finances of the Grand Duke.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Don Ramon XX is the Grand Duke of the Mediterranean island principality Abacco.  Crippled with debts, Ramon and his country face financial ruin.  An unscrupulous businessman offers to buy his island to exploit its abundant sulphur deposits, but Ramon, aware of the harmful use to which the mineral will be put, refuses to sell.  Offended by this rejection, the businessman stirs up trouble with malcontents on the island and has soon organised a revolution to overthrow the Grand Duke.  Ramon is pinning his hopes on Olga, the Grand Duchess of Russia, whose offer of marriage will put an end to his financial problems.  Unfortunately, Olga’s letter to Ramon goes missing and falls into the hands of the conspirators.  Meanwhile, Olga is on the run from her own enemies and ends up allying herself with the adventurer Philipp Collins...

One of F.W. Murnau’s lesser works, Die Finanzen des Großherzogs is one of the director’s rare attempts at a satirical comedy.  Murnau scripted the film with Thea von Harbou, a popular German writer who is perhaps best known for her collaborations with Fritz Lang (to whom she would be married for a time).  Although the film is short on laughs and suffers from an overly convoluted plot, it is imaginatively shot and offers some enjoyable performances, notably from its charismatic star actor, Alfred Abel, who plays a sympathetic rogue.  Max Schreck – who is famous for his portrayal of the vampire in Murnau’s earlier Nosferatu (1922) – appears in a small role, playing one of the conspirators.

© James Travers 2008

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